My job involves doing what!?

With a whole new job in alumni engagement, what should I be doing to engage our alumni? What activities and events can we be pursuing to get our alumni together? Well, I have learned that you can start small and build from there and do creative things. In the spring, one of my alumni, Brent Seal came to see me and we were chatting. Brent is an avid hiker (and a wonderful soul) and we were talking about an alumni hike. How cool would it be to get a few people out on a weekend and go for a hike in the woods. With fall here and the season getting short, it had to be soon.

Today was the day. We put the word out and picked Dog Mountain up Seymour in North Vancouver – http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/dog-mountain/. The hike is fairly easy with an hour or so in and to an amazing plateau and then an hour or so back to the parking lot. We decided at the plateau to have some treats and admire the view. If you have never been to Dog Mountain, it is fairly easy and the plateau offers a 270 degree spectacular view. If you haven’t, go for a nice nature walk. What I appreciate is that you can see towards the Fraser Valley and all the way to Grouse Mountain and the range of mountains behind Grouse.

Those who made the hike were Brent, Sasha, Andre, Mirko, Yushada, Benjamin, Praveena and I. We all hiked and caught up. Conversations were around leadership, my new position, beer, vacations, work travels etc. We also laughed a lot and it felt good to be in the company of wonderful people. I guess I can’t believe that this would be considered work. I plan on doing more fun activities. Alumni engagement should not be limited to the office or receptions…why not a hike or something that is fun. As long as we all enjoy in each other’s company. Thank you all for a great day and I can’t believe this is something that is considered work…I have a great job!